Sharing The Goodness

James Kjelstrup

On a warm summer morning, Jones awoke to the typical sound of his wife snoring. It was five o’clock. He managed to drag himself slowly across the floor to his clothing, which had been laid out with care by Aimee the night before. He loved her more than life itself. From there, he moved to the barn, beginning his morning ritual. He carefully evaluated each horse, looking for signs of injury or illness, knowing he would find nothing out of the ordinary. Next, they were fed and watered, and he stopped for a moment to brush each horse individually. A light breeze was blowing, causing Jones to fixate on the flood of pink that would become the morning sky. Retiring to his weathered rocking chair on the porch, Aimee met him with a smile, handing him the usual cup of Yerba Mate. How he loved life on the prairie. The rancher gazed out over the open land before him, watching the quail zip about as birds do. He took this time every day to relax, map out his day, and clear his head of troubles. Nothing made him happier. -- James Kjelstrup

Me and my Mate

I am a budding online entrepreneur. I knew there had to be something better than an eight-to-five job for a company situated smack dab in the middle of strawberry fields (and methyl bromide) forever. So last summer I volunteered for one of the predictable layoffs handed out to people in the education profession each year and went way, way out on a limb: I started my own company! And my business partner is Guayaki Yerba Mate tea!!

Yep, that’s right. Most mornings we greet each other early, say around 5 a.m. Though I am a morning person, I’m not much of a talker. But my Mate mate is downright loquacious – a regular chatterbox! Long about 7:00 the phone starts ringing. I always let my Maté mate answer the early calls. I could never be that glib and enthusiastic before noon.

By mid-day, after hours spent optimizing my web site for a strong Google presence, my energy level is dipping. Maté to the rescue! One bombilla and I’m a new woman!! I vacuum the upstairs and repaint a bathroom during my lunch hour. On the way back to my office I retile that pesky backsplash over the kitchen sink. Now we can concentrate on our afternoon.

By 4 p.m. I have polished off my mountainous pile of greens and the compost bin is full. It’s me and Maté out to greet some earthworms. I save out the dearly departed old Maté and pack it around my herbs. They are overflowing their little garden space! They love the Mate compost as much as I love my business partner.

Life is goodJ.

Welcome to the island, Kimo

I'd been sleeping on a beach on the dry side of Kauai for three days before I bothered to introduce myself to the rest of the campers. We were all in that wonderful position of having no employment, a limited amount of food, and an intense amount of happiness with our lot in life. I'ts very hard to be depressed about life when you're in a place that allows you to pick fresh coconuts right off the tree, wash clothes in the warm rain and dry them in the hot sun. It was the evening of my fourth day at this beach that I walked up to their campfire, without a word I sat down in the circle, opened up my bag of mate and my oversized metal mug of water, mixed the two together with the purpose in mind of making a good strong batch, and placed the mug in the fire to start the process. As I did this almost every member of the group fixed their gaze on me, at first with a questioning look at this bag of green flaky stuff, and then with utter horror as I mixed it with the water. Thia spouted a long and arduous debate amongst them as to why I would put such expenseive things into tea, and it wasn't until the one member who did not look at what I was doing with horror in his eyes spoke up that the rabble died down. He was by far the oldest member of the group and he sounded as if he carried some authority as everyone, including myself, listened intently to what he had to say. He asked my origin, when I told him I was from off island he said, "So are the rest of these people so I can now understand why they do not recognize what you are doing, I wonder how you learned of Mate?" he said this while eyeing my straining spoon with considerable glee. I told him of my twenty-first birthday and how it had been a gift from an old friend who knew that I wouldn't be going to any bars to celebrate the day. He looked at me, smiled, and asked my name. "James" I said, to which he replied "Your name shall be Kimo as long as you stay on our island, welcome". I'll never forget it.

Donald Minini

USA

Let's not forget the great taste especially the Honey/Vanilla Soy Milk version!

Best Tea I Ever Had...

USA

I was extremely sick for a couple of days, I was taking anything I could think of to make me feel better (including zinc homeopathy, echinacea, and vitamin c). One day I woke up from a nap and felt even worse so I made my self some of this tea. Within 10 minutes I felt amazingly better. Best tea I have ever had!!! Bonni Easley-Appleyard

Mike D

Climbing Guayaki Style

Steve

USA

I have been drinking mate for around three years and I decided that my art project should be dedicated to yerba mate. My class was supposed to use some kind of environmental problem and some how paint that problem in a creative way but I decided to make positive. I tried to make this painting show what Guayakí is doing for the world. I have painted a gourd with a branch of the yerba mate as the bombilla to show that the planting of mate is bringing back the forests and every time you drink mate you are becoming prat of the rainforest. Mate has been a huge part of my life these past few years. I first found out about Guayakí from one of my favorite skateboarders, Matt Pailes, by looking at his sponsers and I saw a strange name and looked into it. I had no idea what mate was so I decided that I wanted to see for myself what this good energy was all about. I went to my local natural market and bought a bag of mate rooibos, which is still my favorite flavor. I was not sure what to expect but in my mind I knew I was going to like it. I brewed my first cup that night and my first sip was amazing, no words came express what I felt. It filled my body with a beautiful feeling of being content with everything. Around my discovery of Guayakí became closer to God and I decided to create a major change in my life, go vegetarian. God and vegetarianism along with guayakí helped me feel so much better in life. The fallowing Christmas I received a guayakí hemp shirt and a gourd. This is the only time that I can remember having a smile on my face that would not go away. This was one of the happiest moments of my life. I had my first couple of mates alone but when the weather warmed up I began to have friends over for fires and pass the mate around. I now have many friends that love mate and its beautiful characteristics. This summer for the first time I discovered the beauty of tereré. It helps keep me hydrated in the hot sun while I am at soccer practice or just with my friends. Also this summer a learned Arabic for a month and I brought my mate with me. My teachers knew about mate and whenever I did not have my mate the would ask me were it was. I even had a classmate that drank mate. By the end of the month everyone in my class had tried mate. This mate also help me meet a lot of people on my vacation to the beach. Everyone wondered what I was drinking and some even thought I was drinking coffee but reashured them that I was drinking la belleza del sur, la buena energía, la yerba mate. A lot of the people thought it was amazing that I was drinking out of a gourd and loved the taste of mate. Now when I don't have my mate and I meet someone new one of the first questions I ask them is if they have ever tried yerba mate. Now also with the help of yerba mate I love spanish and I would love to travle to Aegentina which I am hoping will happen sometime soon. I hope you enjoy my painting and I want to thank you sooooo much for bringing me to the la buenísima yerba mate. Muchísamas Gracias Guayakí and in arabic ÃÂ´ÃÆÃÂ±ÃÂ§ÃÂºÃÅ ÃÂ§ÃÆÃÅ ÃÂ§ÃâÃÂ§ÃÂ¨ ÃÂ£ÃÂ´ÃÂ±ÃÂ¨ Ãâ¦ÃÂ§ÃÂªÃâ°(thank you Guayakí, now I drink mate), you have change my life for the best

Stubb's BBQ

Good taste is perception ….something that tastes great is perfection…..Guayaki and Me

Oh Yeah-A!

Roll Daddy Roll!

Mate vs. TV

Drinking mate is a great alternative to TV.
If you are with somebody, it makes you have a dialogue.
If you are alone it makes you think.

Hugs, Alex

Yerba Mate Chocolate oatmeal cookies...

USA

I am the school nurse for a high school with over 2900 students. We're having a 12-week 'The Biggest Loser' content that over 100 teachers/staff are participating in. Each week I come up with a 'prize' for anyone that loses any weight. I baked a batch of my Guayaki Yerba Mate choc. oatmeal cookies to hand out and they were a huge hit. I told them to expect more energy and many said afterwards they felt rejuvinated for the rest of the afternoon. Thank you Guayaki ! Mary

We feel very blessed to have your support

Guayaki truly does play an important part in the vision being played out through us - as the organizers of the Dreamtime Festival, we are asked to do so much, and we do it, and the response is amazing and positive - It wouldn't have been possible without the mate there... and thats just us - i know that its serving other people - people who don't know what to do because there is so much cool stuff to do at Dreamtime - mate keeps everyone up and awake and vital. Our vision is to create space for the alternatives to cultural habits that harm our bodies and harm the planet. The mate presents an alternative to coffee and even drugs for moving through the night and dancing all night long, or staying alert and refreshed on a hot afternoon during a transformational workshop.. We know that changing the world starts with the health and integrity of the individual, and we hope to continue working with you to bridge guayaki mate into the mainstream as an alternative to the norm (I think your mate is the best on the market with all the yummy flavors!) We all need to support and love our bodies to make the paradigm shift. Please send our thanks to the whole of your community.

-Jennifer BaccellieriCo-director of Dreamtime

I love Guayaki because it is ritualistic, it keeps me optimistic, full of the good energy like a natural mystic.

-- Matt Pailes

I think Guayaki is great

I enjoy the Mate Latte- and drink it throughout the day. -- Alex

Teaism

“Teaism” Honor a good fight, Surrender to banality, Meditate amidst strife. Appreciate our creatures, Worship the earth we walk upon. Keep peace with yourself, As well as with everyone else. Search for your body’s limits, And stretch them further each day, But do not be afraid to relax. Challenge the mind, A good teacher will forever be a student. Live simply, possess little. Listen to the waves, wind, the rain, And perhaps you will hear more. Savor the good, compete with the bad. Spend time with those you love, Be sure they know you care. Believe in good and bad luck, Because in believing in both, You can believe in neither. Sit on sun-warmed rocks and write, Lay in the tall grass and read. Listen to music, Remember the power of words, As well as the trance in silence. Breathe in the scents of a city occasionally, But expand your lungs with clean air. Remember the past Because everything is once in a lifetime. Anticipate the future, One can never be sure of what lies ahead. Be kind to your body, Protect it from harmful elements. Discard of your watch, lose track of time. Refrain from eating for a day Simply because you can, And to understand how little we really need. Keep in touch with friends And understand the power of a familiar voice saying ‘hello’. Leave the car at home for a day, It’s better for you, and for our earth. Wake early with the sun, Retire when your body says it is time. Hike alone to observe the solitude. Travel much, Learn how big our world is, And in doing so, You may observe it can also be very small. Do not worry, Life sometimes always seems to find a manageable path. Notice the vibrance of summer And the brilliant white of winter. Always remember how to laugh, As well as how to make a snow angel. It is okay to indulge, But barely getting by will make you stronger. Depend on no one but yourself And do not become too attached, For, inevitably, one day you will be detached. You can be melancholy about an end, But look forward to change and new beginnings. Try things you have never tried, Be spontaneous, Do not over-analyze. Ask questions, But know that you may receive better answers Through listening. Observe, do not stare. Be friendly, say thank-you, It may brighten someone’s day. Spend time with others, Learn from them, But be aware of all that you can learn From spending time with yourself. People are full of advice, So keep your ears open, But only take it from those you trust. Know that in trusting people Or in loving people You can easily be hurt. Regardless, live like you have never been hurt. Be free, soar, breathe. -- Amy Dombroski

Matt

Canada

Today is one of those days, when the words "thank you" seem so ordinary for offering gratitude for extra-ordinary gifts. Being a long time coffee drinker I have felt my life had changed when I started to drink Mate. I discovered Mate a few years ago after my wedding in Cuba. When I returned home from the island I purchased a copy of the Motorcycle Diaries to better understand Che Guevara. The notes kept referencing a beverage called Mate. I love to try new things and thought that Mate was for me. After my first cup of mate my life changed. Unlike the negative feeling that I was getting from coffee finishing my cup of mate uplifted my soul and gave me a new heightened sense of life. I felt that my soul had been cleansed and I had a new outlook on life. I started to serve mate at social gatherings at my house and noticed that conversation and good times had elevated. With the controversy surrounding unfair practices of the coffee trade, it is great to see that what you are doing is so much different and most of all it is authentic, genuine and sincere. This compassion and caring that you give your farmers is a gift that only true. benevolent people possess. So, once again, I offer my deep gratitude for what you are doing and I feel very fortunate to be a beneficiary of what the rainforest offers.